Container having a built-in emptying device for pulverulent material or the like



Oct. 18, 1960 w. HERMANNS 2,956,839

CONTAINER HAVING A BUILT-IN EMPTYING DEVICE FOR PULVERULENT MATERIAL OR THE LIKE Filed Jan. 14, 1957 2 Sheets-$heet 1 H I I ,4 f?

Oct. 18, 1960 w. HERMANNS 2,956,839

CONTAINER HAVING A BUILT-IN EMPTYING msvrcz FOR PULVERULENT MATERIAL OR THE LIKE Filed Jan. 14, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor" 14 M, mm W United States Patent CONTAINER HAVING A BUILT-IN EMPTYING DEVICE FOR PULVERULENT MATERIAL OR Claims priority, application Germany Jan. 19, 1956 Claims. (Cl. 302-53) The invention relates to a container having a built-in emptying device, for material in the form of powder, dust, small particles of grains, i.e. for example transport containers or storage bins for cement, flour, coal dust, grain or the like.

The known containers of this kind either have a funnel-shaped bottom inclined so sharply that the pulverulent. material or the like is able to slide towards the outlet aperture situated at the lower end of the funnel merely under the effect of its own weight, or else the container bottom. is: slightly inclined towards an outlet aper- 5 ture arranged therein or is. adjustable to a slight inclination, whilst there are distributed over the whole container bottom devices for loosening-up the material pneumatically in order to make the material so readily flowable that it runs over the slightly inclined bottom towards the outlet aperture. In both cases the construction of the container bottom reduces the capacity of the container, which is also given a high centre of gravity, which has a disadvantageous eifect more particularly in the case of mobile containers.

In contradistinction to this, the invention proposes a container having a flexible cover whose periphery is fixed to the inside of the container walls and which, when the container is being filled, lies against the container walls freeing the whole inside of the container to receive the material which is being fed in, whereas on the other hand when the container has to be emptied the said cover is adapted to be advanced by means of compressed air introduced under it, so far into the inside of the container that the material displaced by the said movement flows towards the container outlet of its own accord or with the assistance of known channel-shaped conveying means. The flexible cover used as the emptying device can be a smooth single web of material; alternatively it can form a part of the wall of a bag which is arranged inside the container and is connected to a compressed air pipe line.

The invention further proposes arranging, between the periphery of the flexible cover and the wall of the container, bars which are arranged to slope downwards towards the container outlet and which, when the cover is blown up, form the bottom of a channel whose side walls consist on the one hand of the container wall and on the other hand of the blown-up cover, and hoses which have air-permeable walls, are arranged on the said bars, are connected to -a compressed air pipeline, and extend into the vicinity of the container outlet.

Several constructional examples of containers provided with emptying devices according to the invention are illustrated in the drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an elongated tank with a built-in emptying device;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken through the tank on the line IIII of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan View of the tank according to Figs. 7 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view corresponding to Fig. 1 taken through an elongated tank having a slightly modified emptying device, and

Fig, 5 is a view, partly in elevation and partly in longitudinal section, of a storage bin provided with an emptying device according to the invention.

The elongated tank 1 illustrated in Figs. 1, 2. and 3 has a filling hole 2 and an :outlet 3. Mounted on the end wall 4 of the tank, in .the vicinity of the upper end of the said wall is a plate 5 which is slightly inclined towards the inside of the tank and which; is connected to narrow bars 6 and 7 which are arranged at opposite sides of the tank and are inclined towards the outlet 3, and extend along the casing of, the; tank 1. Arranged on these bars and .on the plate 5 is a branched hose 8 which is provided with air-permeable walls and whose ends 9 extend into the vicinity of the outlet 3 and which is adapted to be connected at its middle portion-at 10-to a compressed air pipeline. 7

Situated in the elongated tank 1 below the plate ,5 and the bars .6, 7 is an inflatable bag 11 which consists for example .of rubber or a rubberized textile material and which is preferably fixed to the inner edges. of {the plate 5. and bars .6, 7 and is provided with a safety valve 2 4. When the tank is being filled, this bag liespopg,

pletely flat against the endwall 4 and the parts 9f. the

cylindrical container wall 1 situated under the plate 5 and bars .6, 7, so that it practically does not reduce the capacity" ofthe container at all. When the container has been completely filled and if it is to be emptied, the out,- let is. first of all opened. The materialsituated' .inthe container immediately above the outlet 3 falls by its weight. through the outlet; a erture and is-conveyedawav from the aperture by; a special blower or in; some other way. But some of the material situated laterally above the. outlet aperture, 3- slides towards the outlet aperture also, and in fact the material forms a funnel-,shgpedslope the boundary 12 of which indicated in dot and dash line, depends on the quality and type of material situated in the tank. Thus the material situated in the tank at the left-hand side of line 12 in Fig. 1 no longer slips down by itself towards the aperture 3. For emptying this part of the tank, use is made of the bag 11 which is connected at 13 to a compressed air pipeline. When compressed air is passed into the bag 11, the latter fills with the said air and pushes before it correspondingly the material situated in the tank 1, in the direction towards the outlet 3. Thus the material is forced into the part of the tank to the right of line 12, where it slips down by itself to the outlet. The dimensions of the inflatable bag 11 and the tank 1 are so adapted to one another that the whole of the contents of the tank can be made to flow out through the outlet 3 merely by inflating the bag.

However it is advantageous to remove the material from the tank with the assistance of the emptying apparatus already described hereinbefore, and using the hoses 8. When the bag 11 is blown up, its upper portion assumes the position shown in Fig. l by the chain line 14 and in Fig. 2 by the chain line 15. This means that the bars 6 and 7 together with the tank wall 1 adjoining them and the part of the bag arched upwards along the line 15 in Fig. 2 form conveying channels in which lie the hoses 8, to which the material is fed if it does not flow out by itself through the aperture 3. The compressed air issuing from the walls of the hoses loosens up the material which runs into the aforesaid channels and causes it to flow along. Since the bars 6, 7 are inclined relatively steeply towards the outlet 3, even comparatively coarse-grained or moist material can be made to flow out satisfactorily.

Instead of the bag 11 illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3, it is of course also possible to use a single flexible web 16 (Fig. 4) whose edges are fixed tightly to the inner edges of the plate 5 and the bars 6, 7. This web 16 forms, together with part of the wall of the tank 1, a container which can be supplied with compressed air; the compressed air supply pipe is indicated at 17 in Fig. 4 also. Also the container illustrated in Fig. 4 operates in the same way as the container according to Figs. 1 to 3.

The bag 11 or the web 16 can be made of an airpermeable material; alternatively they can be wholly or partially air-permeable, in which case the position and size of the apertures through which the air is to flow can be so chosen that the air passing through loosens up the material situated in the tank 1 and at the same time conveys it under pressure to the outlet 3.

In the case of the storage bin illustrated in Fig. 5, a hose-like flexible cover 18 is connected at its top end, at 19, fast to the wall 20 of the storage bin while the bottom edge of the cover 18 is fixed about the outlet 22 to the bin wall. The cover 18 normally lies against the wall 20 of the storage bin so that the latter can be filled completely with, for example, pulverulent material such as cement or the like. When the storage bin is to be emptied, compressed air is blown under the cover 18 at 23. This causes the cover 18 to assume the position shown in dash lines, wherein the whole contents of the container can flow out towards the outlet 22.

What I claim as my invention is stated in the following claims:

1. An elongated container for pulverulent material having a circular vertical crosssection, an inlet opening in the top and a discharge opening in the bottom at one end, a narrow bar extending diagonally along each inner side wall of the container and sloping toward the outlet, a flexible cover loosely supported on the bottom and said side walls beneath the bars, and pressure means to raise a portion of said cover above the bars and provide a material support sloping toward said outlet.

2. A container provided with an emptying device according to claim 1, characterised in that the flexible cover is air-permeable.

3. An elongated container for pulverulent material having a circular vertical cross-section, an inlet opening in the top and a discharge opening in the bottom at one end, a narrow bar extending diagonally along each inner side wall of the container and sloping toward the outlet, a flexible cover loosely supported on the bottom and said side walls beneath the bars, pressure means to raise a portion of said cover above the bars and provide a material support sloping toward said outlet and an air-permeable hose resting on said bars and co-extensive therewith to advance the material over the cover.

4. An elongated container for pulverulent material having a circular vertical cross-section, an inlet opening in the top and a discharge opening in the bottom at one end, a narrow bar extending diagonally along each inner side wall of the container and sloping toward the outlet, an inflatable bag loosely supported on the bottom and side walls beneath the bars, and pressure means to distend the bag against the undersides of the bars with the intermediate part of the bag raised above said bars.

5. An elongated container for pulverulent material having a circular vertical cross-section, an inlet opening in the top and a discharge opening in the bottom at one end, a narrow bar extending diagonally along each inner side wall of the container and sloping toward the outlet, an inflatable bag loosely supported on the bottom and side walls beneath the bars, pressure means to raise the upper part of the bag above and within the bars, air-permeable hose lines on said bars and a source of air pressure for said hose lines.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 864,555 Randall Aug. 27, 1907 1,602,354 Fowler Oct. 5, 1926 2,513,455 Cornelius July 4, 1950 2,758,747 Stevens Aug. 14, 1956 2,792,262 Hathorn May 14, 1957 2,829,803 Paton Apr. 8, 1958 h-wi 

